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Global Citizenship: Planning for Sustainable Growth a Pilot Report on Enhancing the Understanding of Global Residence and Citizenship Programs

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Global Citizenship: Planning for Sustainable Growth a Pilot Report on Enhancing the Understanding of Global Residence and Citizenship Programs Global Citizenship: Planning for Sustainable Growth A Pilot Report on Enhancing the Understanding of Global Residence and Citizenship Programs Jointly Commissioned by: Arton Capital and the World Economic Forum © 2014 World Economic Forum Global Council on Migration, Arton Capital No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system. 2014-10 Contents Preface 5 Introduction and Background 6 Definition, Scale and Scope 8 Trends and developments 10 Supply 10 Demand 10 Competition 11 Methods 12 Case selection 12 Towards an analytical framework 13 Investment requirements 14 Price point 14 Maturity 15 Choice of investment type 15 Job creation 16 Overview: investment requirements 17 Commitment requirements 19 Program type 20 Citizenship by Investment Programs: Physical presence for the application 20 Citizenship by Investment Programs: Interview or oath 20 Citizenship by Investment Programs: Physical presence for renewal of the passport 21 Immigrant Investor Programs: Years of residency 21 Immigrant Investor Programs: Days of physical presence 21 Immigrant Investor Programs: Citizenship/language test 22 Overview: commitment requirements 22 Transparency 24 Public support 24 Evaluation 25 Public data on the number of approved investors 25 Publicly available background data 25 Due diligence 26 Overview: transparency 27 Economic weight 29 GDP per capita 29 External debt per capita 30 3 Overview: economic weight 30 Social capacity 32 Population 32 Immigrant intake 32 Overview: social capacity 33 Combined scores 35 Case Assessments 36 Canada 36 United States 40 United Kingdom 43 New Zealand 46 Bulgaria 49 Saint Kitts and Nevis 51 Antigua and Barbuda 53 Recommendations 56 Preface Arton Capital and the World Economic Forum - Global Migration Council are delighted to pres- ent this report. Our collaboration reinforces the strategy of the Global Agenda Council to engage private sector partners in the migration realm, and embodies Arton Capital’s commitment to the sustainable development of the global citizenship movement. This report collates the latest available research and data on global citizenship programs – itself no mean feat – but it goes beyond a comprehensive overview of these programs. The report has three hallmarks. First, it is based on a large-scale comparative study, combining data and anal- ysis from a representative range of countries around the world – to the best of our knowledge such an extensive survey has not been conducted before. Second, it is based on published re- sources and interviews conducted among principal stakeholders. This diversity of perspectives enhances its insights and analysis. Third, it maps a methodology for further research in this field; drawing on published research from a range of relevant disciplines, and identifying the range of stakeholders now involved in these programs. The most enduring impact of this report, however, is its carefully elaborated analytical frame- work. This tool will need further refining and to be tested in other contexts, but it provides for the first time an analytical method to evaluate existing global citizenship programs and assess- es their impact; and guides the principled development of new programs. On the basis of this analysis, the report also concludes with a series of concrete recommendations targeted on government and industry partners. We have deliberately pulled no punches in this report. There are still skeptics of global citizen- ship programs, and their voices are included here. There are countries that are not performing as well as others in developing clear guidelines on their programs, and these divergences are illustrated as well. Some of the biggest market players have been interviewed for this report, and their perspectives are reflected in pursuit of an objective approach and analyses of the set-up and the performance of global citizenship programs. We would like to acknowledge the work of Mrs. Iris Hagemans at the University of Amsterdam, who conducted the research and analysis, and drafted this report. It is a significant report, and we recommend it to you. Dr. Khalid Koser Mr. Armand Arton Chair, Global Agenda Council on Migration President & CEO World Economic Forum Arton Capital 5 Introduction and background Global citizenship programs have existed since the Although policymakers do turn to each other for ad- 1980s, when Saint Kitts and Nevis introduced their vice, there are currently no official forums or dialogues Citizenship by Investment Program in 1984 and Canada where different policymakers involved in global citizen- launched the Investor Class visa in 1986 – a program ship programs can share their experience and discuss that recently has been suspended. From the beginning, industry standards or best practices. The most important these have been highly divergent programs that offer platforms for knowledge-sharing are organized by the citizenship – directly or through residence – to a category growing industry around such programs, most notably a of migrants that later on became commonly referred to small number of market-leading corporations that assist as immigrant investors. international high net worth individuals looking for sec- ond residency and citizenship in their immigration and The Saint Kitts and Nevis program was introduced in investment decision.1 This has the potential to produce response to an economic downturn and offers immedi- bias, since the industry naturally tends to gather the in- ate citizenship to immigrant investors. Dwindling foreign formation most useful to the running of their businesses. investments and economic crisis forced the government to look for new options to raise investment capital. One thing that they understand very well is how investors respond to certain conditions. (…) So I The Canadian program initially offered residence rights to think that there is genuinely an international network immigrant investors and was introduced in response to that is sharing (…) information on how the different emerging global capital flows. The impending transition programs work. I think where there is much (…) less of sovereignty from Hong Kong to Mainland China left understanding, from a government policy perspec- many affluent businesspeople searching for a place to tive, of which of these programs are actually a good protect their wealth. With the Immigrant Investor Pro- idea, you know, are the economic benefits really gram, Canada promoted itself as a destination for this there? How would you improve them? target group. - Researcher, Migration Policy Institute, U.S. Recently, the number of countries offering global cit- izenship programs has increased substantially. With The information gap exists not just between policy- more than thirty years of policy experience, the lessons makers, but within the public too, which can lead to learned from these established global citizenship pro- ungrounded assumptions about the value and impact grams could be useful asset to countries that more of investor immigration programs. There is a continued recently have decided to introduce these programs. At lack of publicly available information on the number of the moment, however, very little information about these applications, supported investments, the economic developments is formally or systematically shared be- performance and broader sociopolitical impacts of these tween countries offering such programs; and this report programs. In 2014, the UK was the first country to pub- aims to help fill this gap. 1 / Most notably the Global Citizen Forum (http://www.globalcitizenfo- rum.org) and the Global Citizenship Seminar (https://www.henleyglob- al.com/global-citizenship-seminar-2014-overview/). 6 Global Citizenship: A Pilot Report on Enhancing the Understanding of Global Residence and Citizenship Programs lish a government-initiated report on the economic costs Secondly, although the framework discerns the relative and benefits.2 This critical report suggested that in the impact of different policy designs, it should not be seen UK at least, the economic benefits of such programs are as prescriptive. Programs operate in different national not always clear. contexts and cannot simply apply the same regulations. Rather, this should be seen as a way to identify the I suppose maybe the government was surprised strengths and weaknesses of different programs and when the MAC delivered its report, in the sense assess where there could be room for improvement. that, you know, this investor program, which kind of sounds like the right thing to have on paper, in practice is not really delivering. - Member, Migration Advisory Committee, UK A more systematic reflection on global citizenship pro- grams is particularly pressing in a current context where migration flows are on the rise. In 2013, United Nations estimated the global number of international migrants at 232 million, a figure that increases every year.3 An increase in the number of high net worth individuals, including in some highly political unstable countries, pushes up the number of immigrant investors.4 More- over, more countries are introducing global citizenship programs, including potentially some outside the most advanced economies. This makes controls, benefits, and public confidence more important to guarantee. Against this background – no formal mechanism to share policy experiences, a lack of public information, and the lack of
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